Sophie checks on Holden while Roman sits next to me. He pats my back. “You did a good job with Matthew, whatever you did.”
“Good.” I take a scalding drink of coffee. “Drunk brains are easier to get into.”
“Yeah, even while you’re drunk, Nick?”
“Maybe,” I grumble. “I just gave him the push, I didn’t do anything else. They need real couple’s counseling.”
I glance over to Sophie as she feeds Holden and Gunner bits of food. I take a colossal bite of my donut. Roman pats my back. “She loves you so much, Nick. When she realized you weren’t following us, she insisted on running back downstairs to find you.”
“Why?” I ask.
In the back of my head, I’d been sure she was going to fuck Roman all night. He was sober, he was right there, her protector, everything he always is. Put together and perfect. He rolls his eyes.
“You were dancing on tables, getting ones from ladies, wandered off. Of course she was worried about you. She was worried something would happen to you, that some woman with a long time crush would make a move, that you would decide ‘you could do better’.” He snorts at the last sentence.
“Her words, I’m assuming.”
“Yup.”
Gunner nips Sophie’s fingers making her laugh. He kisses her neck and her eyes flick to us questioningly, like she’s not sure if we’re okay. She mouths the question to me and I nod before taking another drink of coffee.
“I’m protective right now,” Roman says softly. “I know that. I don’t like to be far from our wife, I don’t want to drink or party hard, or anything like that. I just want to make sure that she has no more complications, that she gets through this pregnancy, and ...”
“And being right next to her feels like that’s possible,” I fill in.
He nods and rubs the back of his neck. “If she’d let me, I’d put her in bed and bring her the world.”
I pat his knee. “I get it. How do you think I felt when Link was on the way. I read every baby and pre-baby book I could get my hands on andstilldidn’t want to leave her side.”
“Didn’t you take paternity leave before the baby arrived?”
“Yeah.” I chuckle. “I did. I know giving birth, pregnancy, and all that is natural, but I was terrified that something would happen and I’d be too far away to help.”
Roman nods and plays with his fingers. I pat his shoulder. “You’re a good husband and father.”
“You are too, Nick. I will say, your stripping needs some work. You could have been getting fives instead of ones.” Roman teases.
“He should have been getting hundreds.” Sophie appears on my lap and kisses my cheek. “But you actually would have had to take off your clothes for that kind of money and I don’t think I’d let another woman buy that view.”
I chuckle and hug her as Roman wanders. I kiss across Sophie’s neck slowly and rub her back. “I’m sorry you had to deal with so much drama last night.”
“You took care of Matthew. That means you removed half the drama that we were dealing with right away. And you made enough money for lunch, I’m sure.”
Grinning, I turn Sophie’s chin and kiss her hungrily. She lets out a soft moan and her hand tangles in my hair as her tongue strokes mine again and again. Sophie wows me, destroys me, builds me up, gives me butterflies, fireworks, and everything in between.
When she draws back her nose brushes mine. “I love you, Nick. Every bit of you.”
“Even the messy bits?”
“Especially the messy bits.” She kisses my nose again. “The messy bits hold the magic.”
After we finish working to kill the hang over, we all get lunch, check out the Christmas ready town while doing some final Christmas shopping, then head back home. I can tell Holden is eager to be with our kids again. I feel it too.
Like we’ve done something wrong by leaving them for a long weekend. We clean up, unpack, start laundry, and then Sophie leans back on the couch. “It’s so nice to be home.”
“We’re missing two someones,” I say.
“They’ll be here in an hour or two. I think we have presents to wrap.” Sophie grins.